Santander AI strengthens its tangible assets fund

Santander Alternative Investments (SAI), Banco Santander’s alternative investments manager, has added Damien Granger to its team with the aim of leading the investment strategy in tangible asset financing (‘hard assets’, in the jargon).

Trained as an engineer at École Centrale de Lyon and with studies at HEC Paris, Granger has a career of more than 15 years in asset finance and structured finance. He began his professional career in 2009 in the General Inspection department of Société Générale and, from 2014, he moved to the Treasury area of the entity, where he contributed to the development of the group’s long-term financing business.

In 2018 he was appointed director in the bank’s Asset Finance team and, three years later, he joined Flexam-Kartesia Asset Finance as maximum responsible for the investment team.

Its incorporation occurs at a time when Banco Santander’s asset manager continues to strengthen its capabilities and is finalizing the first closing of a new tangible asset financing fund, whose objective is to reach investment commitments of between 400 and 500 million euros.

That first closing is scheduled for mid-this month of April, with commitments already secured above 150 million euros from institutional investors.

The strategy focuses on providing recourse financing to companies, backed by industrial assets and physical transport assets, including aircraft, vessels, trains, trucks, and other transport equipment in various European markets.

In this context, from SAI they emphasize that the firm’s European Head of Direct Lending, Gonzalo Colino, will continue to be “key” in this business line, “contributing his experience and vision for the development and consolidation of the tangible asset financing platform.”

“Damien’s experience investing in transport assets and other asset-backed operations in Europe will be key to continue scaling this strategy and expanding our investment platform,” explains SAI’s Chief Investment Officer, Borja Díaz-Llanos.